Outlook 2002 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Office XP Service Pack 1 consolidates the updates that Microsoft has issued for the various Office programs, including Outlook 2002, since the initial release. All future Office XP updates will require that you have SP-1 installed first. For an overview, see:

Installing Office XP SP-1

SP-1 updates both Office XP and standalone copies of Outlook 2002 or other Office applications. End users can visit Office Product Updates and let the site analyze your system and suggest the updates you need.

You can also download SP-1 (17.5mb) and run the file after you download it.

Installation notes:

You may be asked to insert your original Office XP CD during the installation of SP-1. If the installation appears to hang, check to see whether the window prompting you for the CD has popped up behind the installation dialog. We’ve had reports of that occurring on Windows XP Pro systems.

If you cannot access your e-mail accounts after installing SP-1, the fault may be not with Office but with ZoneAlarm or another personal firewall. Try shutting down the firewall (right-click the ZoneAlarm icon in the Windows system tray), then restarting it (check Start | Programs). That should be enough for ZoneAlarm to see the change in the version of Outlook (and other programs besides your browser that access the Internet) and prompt you to allow access.Microsoft actually recommends that you uninstall ZoneAlarm before performing the SP-1 upgrade, then reinstall it. While more time consuming, that approach is likely to result in less overall frustration. See OFFXP Cannot Access Internet with ZoneAlarm, Office XP SP-1.

Microsoft has a new version of its Windows Installer program. While not required, version 2.0 fixes some bugs and is more reliable than earlier versions. It also may eliminate the need to reboot during the SP-1 setup process.

For Administrators

New Features

The first three new features for Outlook are more or less security-related. The last one appears to provide a way to get Outlook to reload a custom form from its original location when Outlook encounters a forms cache problem.

Fixes

SP-1 provides general performance improvements and greater stability. The error reporting tool built into Office has provided Microsoft with a vast amount of data on Office application crashes. SP-1 apparently resolves a lot of those issues.

Miscellaneous

Notes

After you install SP-1, Help | About Microsoft Outlook will show the version as Microsoft Outlook 2002 (10.3513.3501) SP-1.

If you are using Outlook with a Microsoft Network (MSN) mail account, you will need to edit the account properties. While fixing a password problem, Microsoft made accounts that use the MSN/ prefix for the user name inoperative. You’ll have to fix the user name yourself. See OL2002 Cannot Connect to MSN POP3 Servers After Upgrade to SP-1.

About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.